


Divinity

by Draco_Shion



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Garreg Mach Ball (Fire Emblem), Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:02:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draco_Shion/pseuds/Draco_Shion
Summary: After an unexpected encounter in the Goddess Tower, Ignatz has one more thing that he wants to do before the night is over: ask Marianne to dance with him. With a little encouragement from his friends, he plucks up the courage to do it, and is rewarded with an enchanting experience that he'll cherish the memory of.
Relationships: Marianne von Edmund/Ignatz Victor, Raphael Kirsten & Ignatz Victor
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Divinity

**Author's Note:**

> This is another one which I wrote in autumn 2019 and am only now sharing anywhere. It's just a cute little fic I wrote about the sweetest pairing in FE3H, hope you enjoy :)

Ignatz hesitated outside the Reception Hall, where, from the sound of it, the ball was still going on. He'd gone along with the rest of the class, eaten dinner (Raphael had been right - the food at the ball  _ was  _ amazing), and then taken the first opportunity he'd had to slip away to the Goddess Tower. Earlier in the month, he'd briefly considered asking Marianne to go with him, but then everyone kept talking about going to the Goddess Tower being a couple's thing that you did with someone you wanted to marry, and, well, he'd realised he couldn't face the thought of asking her when there were all those expectations attached. It was a real shame, because he was pretty sure that she'd like to meet the Goddess, too, but… well, he didn’t even know her that well, although she’d seemed to enjoy it when he’d taken her to see the sunset a few weeks ago.

So he'd gone alone, and waited around like the loser he was, hoping a couple would come along and maybe the Goddess would appear to bless them, and maybe he'd be able to see her? He'd just been considering giving up, feeling very foolish and pathetic, when Professor Byleth, of all people, had turned up, and offered to make a wish with him to see if the Goddess appeared. She hadn't, of course, and Byleth had fondly called him ridiculous for hoping such a thing, but he was still quite pleased with himself, because he was sure he'd been able to  _ feel _ the Goddess watching them, and he was very grateful to his Professor for turning up. What had she been doing there, anyway? he suddenly wondered; but it was none of his business. She’d wandered off somewhere, said she needed a break, and she  _ had _ looked exhausted; so now he was here, alone, bracing himself to go back to the ball. He wasn’t any good at dancing, in fact wasn’t really much good with people in general, but there was something he wanted to do before the night was over. Ignatz took a breath and slipped back into the hall through the big double doors.

The warmth, noise, and lingering smell of food (and perfume) hit him like a breaking wave, but not in a particularly unpleasant way. Still, he immediately felt a little nervous - until, that is, Raphael somehow spotted him almost as soon as he’d come in and waved at him from the other side of the hall. Smiling to himself, he wove through the crowds at the edge of the room and went to join his friend.

“Hey there, Natz! Where did you disappear off to?” Raphael said cheerily.

“I, um. I went to the Goddess Tower. Alone. I wanted to see if I could meet the Goddess.” Ignatz explained, rather sheepishly; but Raphael was of course unfazed, being about the least judgemental person Ignatz had ever met.

“Ahh, okay! Did she show up?”

“Well, I didn’t see her, but I think she was there.”

“Nice!” said Raphael, sincerely, and that was that; Raphael was never one for discussing religion (or politics). “Are ya thinking of dancing, Ignatz?” he continued, nodding towards the dancefloor, where, Ignatz realised now that he was looking properly, Hilda was still there among the crowds, having what appeared to be a wonderful time twirling around with some boy from the Black Eagles class, and as he watched Claude brought Dorothea onto the floor too. He replied, “Yeah, maybe. It depends.”

“Oh, yeah?” said Raphael. “Someone in particular you wanna dance with?”

“...Okay, yeah, you got me!” Ignatz admitted, even more flustered. “Have you seen Marianne around lately? Is she still here?”

“Marianne, huh? Yeah, I think she’s still here. Ah! Yeah, there she is, with Leonie.” Raphael pointed over towards a corner, where, yes, Ignatz saw first Leonie’s vibrant red hair and then Marianne, sat beside her like a shadow; the chairs surrounding them were empty.

“Hey, don’t point so obviously!” Ignatz said hurriedly, but really, no one was paying them any attention.

“Sorry.” shrugged Raphael. They stood beside each other in silence for a few moments, Ignatz watching Claude and Dorothea dancing elegantly together, smiling warmly, looking completely in their element. They were both so beautiful, he thought, and wished he was like them. Raphael interrupted his thoughts by saying, “Well? Are you gonna go ask her to dance, or what?”

“W-well… I don’t know. I’m not much good at dancing…” mumbled Ignatz.

“Marianne ain’t the type to care much about that kinda thing. I think she’d be real happy to receive an invitation from you.”

“Yeah, okay then, sure, I’ll ask her.” Ignatz made the resolution that he would indeed, but not right now - not while she was talking to Leonie. He changed the subject by saying, “What about you, Raphael?”

Raphael shrugged again. “Eh, I was thinkin’ of leaving soon, ‘cus the food’s gone now.” Ignatz laughed; his friend was so lovably predictable. Raphael continued, “I had a couple of dances earlier - Flayn invited me up, that was fun - but it ain’t really my thing. Some of our class have left already.”

He was running out of time to ask Marianne, Ignatz realised; he didn’t think she would stay late. He hadn’t realised how much time had passed when he’d been in the Goddess Tower.

Ignatz wandered off away from Raphael, vaguely towards Marianne, but he hesitated a little longer, unable to overcome his nervousness. He came across the Blue Lions girls - Mercedes, Annette and Ingrid - who chatted to him energetically, and Mercedes even asked him if he wanted to dance, totally knocking him off balance. Instinctively, he glanced over towards Marianne and saw that she was now on her feet, and alone. “Um, thank you very much, but I owe the next dance to someone else!” he said apologetically.

“Oh! It’s no problem, Ignatz; I hope you enjoy it!” Mercedes said, smiling. The current piece of music seemed to be coming to an end, so he made his excuses from the Lions girls and finally hurried over towards Marianne.

“Oh, hello, Ignatz.” she said as he approached, almost too softly for him to hear over the music.

“Hi, Marianne.” he said, feeling very awkward; but there was nothing else for it now. “Um, I was wondering if you wanted to dance with me? It’s totally fine if you don’t want to-”

“No, I would love to!” she said; she had looked extremely surprised when he first asked, but now she gave him one of her shy smiles, and it struck Ignatz how beautiful she was. 

"Really? Thank you!" he said, but, unable to stop himself, he continued, "I'm afraid I'm not the best at dancing, but I'll try."

"It's okay, I’m not much good either", she said modestly. “We can just go slowly - ah, see, it’s a slow piece anyway”, as the band had began playing the next song.

Ignatz was momentarily frozen, but remembered himself and took her hand, walking her out onto the dancefloor. It reminded him, again, of that time recently when he'd lead her outside to see the sunset; as he'd been then, he was surprised by the slight roughness of her delicate-looking hands - from grooming horses, he supposed. 

They began the dance, and at first Ignatz was too worried about getting the steps wrong to pay attention to much else, but he soon got into the rhythm of it and relaxed a little. It helped that Marianne seemed surprisingly confident and calm, leading him gently. "Marianne, you're really good! I thought you wanted to stay away from the ball?" he said.

"I didn't think anyone would want to dance with me." she replied meekly. He wanted to ask if anyone else  _ had _ invited her to dance, but he stopped himself; surely she would have gotten a few invitations, because even if she was shy, she was also very pretty. Marianne added, "And I'm really not  _ that _ good at dancing. Um, I haven't seen you dancing either." 

"Yes, well, I wouldn't know who to dance with, except," and here Ignatz suddenly became very aware of the way their hands were touching and their bodies moving as one, "I wanted to dance with you."

Marianne blushed, and it was adorable. And as they danced, without words now, Marianne apparently rendered speechless, Ignatz watched the way the light caught her eyes and her sky-blue hair (still in the same bun she always wore), and thought about her quiet kindness, her love of animals, and the way she always seemed so sad but smiled, sometimes, at birds and flowers and sunsets - and at him, briefly, when he'd asked her to dance; and altogether he felt that he might be a little bit in love. 

The song ended, too soon and yet not soon enough, and they left the floor together (etiquette demanded they never dance with the same partner twice, according to Hilda and Lorenz.) 

"So, what are you thinking of doing now?" Ignatz asked timidly, and immediately regretted his awkward phrasing. 

"Thank you very much for asking me to dance, Ignatz." Marianne said, giving him a fleeting smile again. "But… I think I'm going to leave now."

"Okay. I was just going too, actually," he said, taking the opportunity, "shall we walk back together?"

"Yes, sure." she said, and he thought she sounded happy.

They walked slowly back to the dormitory, looking at the stars (it had been overcast earlier, but now most of the clouds had cleared), not speaking because they knew nothing needed to be said - the sky was beautiful, the air was cold and crisp, and these were things they both understood and appreciated all the better in their silence. 

At last they reached the door to Marianne's room. "Goodnight, Marianne." Ignatz said, a little uncertainly.

"Goodnight, Ignatz. Thank you."

"No, it was my pleasure," and he beamed at her before she closed the door and was gone.

Now he was alone again; he wasn't particularly tired, and he  _ could  _ have stayed at the ball, perhaps had that dance with Mercedes, but it had been worth it to walk back with Marianne - or rather, to have that dance with her imprinted in his mind as the final, and only, dance of that night for him; it was a memory he would treasure. He would treasure, too, that strange interlude in the Goddess Tower, with the Professor making a wish for everyone to be happy, and the feeling that the Goddess herself was near. Ignatz had always imagined the Goddess as beautiful without compare, utterly spellbinding and ethereal, and he dreamed of one day getting a glimpse of her; but now, when he held the two parts of his night together in his mind, he found himself wondering if perhaps Marianne had given him a hint what the Goddess was like in person.


End file.
